CONTENTS

AMNA--Prime Minister and New Democracy (ND) party leader Antonis Samaras
and the leaders of the two parties participating in his three-party
coalition government -- PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos and Democratic
Left (DIMAR) leader Fotis Kouvelis -- met on Wednesday to review the
decisions on Greece taken at a Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance
ministers on Monday.

According to the coalition government's two junior partners, Venizelos
and Kouvelis, no issue of a government reshuffle was put forward at
their meeting, during which they were briefed on the Eurogroup meeting
and decisions by Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras.amna

"We have a new framework, a new starting point that we must take advantage
of in the best possible way to the benefit of the real economy, to the
benefit of the citizens, because now only a halting of the recession and
positive growth rates can convince the Greeks that a prospect exists,"
PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos told reporters after the leaders'
meeting.

Venizelos stressed that "the climate (vis-a-vis Greece) has changed"
and that "we also must believe in this cause", adding the importance of
"the Greeks feeling more confident".

"We know the difficulties, we know what every household is going through,
we know what it means to be unemployed, to have your business be at
risk and to have lost income. But the country must remain standing,
and now it can regain the lost ground and once again become autonomous
and equal in Europe," he added.

Venizelos said that the immediate target now was "completion of all that
we have undertaken in relation to the buy-back of the Greek bonds (Greek
debt buy-back), the recapitalisation of the banks - not the bankers (an
indirect reply to opposition criticism), for money to enter the market,
for the state to pay what it owes to the market and, of course, for the
liquidity to be channeled to the market".

He explained that this was why the recapitalisation of the banks is
accompanied by three accords on liquidity, on reconstruction and on
reacquiring the value of the banks, respectively, in order for the state
to get back what it puts into the banking system.amna

Asked if a change in the operation of the government was put forward,
Venizelos said that "this was not the subject of today's discussion",
adding that "now we must take advantage of the moment, which is very
important, the country must turn towards exiting the crisis".amna

DIMAR leader Fotis Kouvelis put the priority on growth and restoring
and reinforcing the social cohesion, speaking in turn to reporters after
the leaders' meeting.

Kouvelis said that a comprehensive plan for the country's recovery and
a protection net for the hard-hit social strata is necessary.amna

"We will do everything needed for the country to move forward, for a
developmental process and the creation of jobs," he said.

Kouvelis added that his party's decision to support the coalition
government for Greece's continued stay in the euro and to avert political
instability has been vindicated, and welcomed the Eurogroup decisions
as an "exceptionally positive". development.amna

On the prospect of a government reshuffle, he said that no discussion
on such a prospect took place with Samaras and Venizelos, adding that
"the issue was not brought up in any manner".

Asked if an updating of the three parties' programme agreement (for
participation in the coalition government) is needed, Kouvelis stressed
that the priority should be on policies for growth and social cohesion.

Leaving the meeting earlier, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said
he briefed the leaders of the coalition government's three parties on
Monday's Eurogroup meeting and outcome.

Stournaras said that in the coming days the Hellenic Republic Asset
Development Fund S.A. (HRADF) will issue an announcement explaining how
the Greek debt buy-back programme will be carried out.

Asked by journalists how easy or hard the buy-back process will be,
Stournaras said that he is optimistic, adding that "nothing is easy,
but we're trying".

The buy-back of the Greek debt is a precondition set out by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release its portion of the
43.7-billion-euros tranche of the EU/IMF IMF bailout loan to Greece
that was approved by a Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers
at Monday's meeting in Brussels.amna

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, who attended the Eurogroup
meeting, welcomed the Eurogroup's decisions on Greece and added that
once progress has been made on specifying and delivering the commitments
made at the meeting, and "in particular the implementation of the debt
buybacks", she would be "in a position to recommend to the IMF Executive
Board the completion of the first review of Greece's program".